Principles for the Castle Special Place 

Principles for the Castle Special Place

The following principles are inter-related and the order of the listing does not convey a set order of priority.  Rather, the ordering is for ease of reading.

The Working Group developed these principles to guide operations of the Working Group and its discussions of what classifications of legislated protected areas and parks to recommend for the Castle Special Place.  The principles were widely circulated for comment.  The Working Group also met with municipal governments, the MLA and senior provincial officials from five departments during November 2008 through February 2009, to share information about the principles and process, receive comments and maintain an ongoing dialogue during development of the conceptual proposal.

1. The current provincial system of Parks and Protected Areas is adopted as the basis for obtaining legislative protection for the Castle Special Place.
2. Land and resources remain as public property within the Castle Special Place (excepting the cur­rent private lands of the Castle Mountain Resort).
3. The rights of the existing disposition holders (2) are honoured (3) as long as those uses conform to the other principles herein.
4. The ecological integrity is not harmed by human activity.  The three main objectives for maintain­ing ecological integrity are:
   1. key natural processes are sustained within normal ranges of variation,
   2. viable populations of native species (including rare species) are maintained or restored in natu­ral patterns of abundance and distribution, and
   3. human uses compatible with the maintenance of ecological integrity (4) are allowed.
5. The watershed is protected from activities and facilities that could be harmful or unsustainable (5).
6. The underlying causes of invasive, non-native plant species within the Castle Special Place are ad­dressed.  The removal of these species is a high priority.
7. Human use is managed so that it does not compromise ecological integrity.
8. Jurisdictions (6) effectively work together for the purposes of maintaining ecological integrity and managing human use within the Castle Special Place.
9. Traditional subsistence and recreational uses are maintained as long as those uses conform with the rest of the principles herein.
10. Access (7) for recreational use is maintained where such use is demonstrated to be ecologically sustain­able and appropriate.
11. Aboriginal places (8), their cultural use (9) and their history are protected.
12. All management policies are enforceable, properly resourced and enforced.
13. Public education and information is available and disseminated, including about the values of the Castle Special Place and its regulations.
14. New residences and roofed, visitor accomodation (10) are not compatible within the Castle Special Place.
15. Principles from the province’s Vision, Mission and Goals for protected areas are applied:
    1. The area is valued as a natural landscape that preserves the environmental diversity of the Castle Special Place
    2. The Castle Special Place is preserved, in perpetuity as an example of the diversity of Alberta’s natural heritage and related cultural heritage.
    3. The primary goal of preservation is balanced with three other goals: heritage appreciation, out­door recreation and heritage tourism.
       1. Opportunities are provided for heritage appreciation; to explore, understand and appre­ciate the area’s natural heritage, and to enhance public awareness of our rela­tionship to and dependence upon the natural world.
       2. A variety of natural landscape-dependent outdoor-recreation opportunities, includ­ing wilderness and opportunities for solitude, and related facilities and services are provided where these are consistent with the rest of the principles for the Castle Special Place. 
       3. Alberta residents and visitors are encouraged to discover and enjoy the area's natural and cultural heritage through a variety of nature-based, outdoor recreation and tourism opportunities and services, where these are consistent with the rest of the principles for the Castle Special Place.

Principles for Functioning of the Castle Special Place Working Group

1. The Castle Special Place Working Group is an open and broadly inclusive, public interest propo­nent sharing a commonality of purpose to protect the Castle Special Place.
2. The Working Group functions through a transparent, consensus building process, lead by a neu­tral facilitator to draft and recommend a conceptual proposal for protecting the Castle within the current provincial system of Parks and Protected Areas.
3. Invitations for participation are inclusive of those with an active interest in the Castle Special Place, irrespective of location of residence.
4. Decisions of the working group are made by consensus.  If consensus cannot be reached, deci­sions can be made by following the majority opinion, but with allowance for recording and re­porting of minority opinions.
5. Communications within the working group and with the larger committee include the use of internet tools and a website to report meeting notes, and circulate information and ideas.
6. Other user groups, the general public, and the municipal, provincial and First Nations govern­ments within the region of the Castle Special Place are informed of the group’s work, includ­ing the principles and conceptual proposal it drafts.
7. The principles and conceptual proposal written by the Working Group will be publicly accessi­ble.

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